The present invention relates to a storytelling system and, more particularly, to a system in which audio data are transmitted to one or more "talking dolls", which translate the audio data into audible sound.
Extant audio storytelling systems are characterized by either extreme simplicity or a certain degree of complexity. At one end of the spectrum, there are audio cassette players, and variations thereof. At the other end, there are systems of talking dolls of varying degrees of complexity. Talking dolls have been elaborated in one of two ways. The first, more common way has been to animate the dolls, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,341 of DeSmet. The second has been to provide systems of dolls that interact intelligently, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,840,602 and 4,857,030 of Rose. Each of Rose's dolls is a miniature robot, equipped with a central processing unit, a read only memory for vocabulary, and a speech synthesizer. Each doll is capable of initiatin and maintaining a simulated conversation with the other dolls of the system. Rose justifies the complexity of his system as being necessary to maintain the interest of young children, and cites a study by "a child development specialist in the Pediatrics Department of a West Coast hospital" in support of his thesis. In that study, young children were found to become quickly bored with the limited repertoire of non-interactive talking dolls.
Neither animation nor interactivity is necessary to maintain the interest of young children. For ages, mothers and teachers have held the interest of children with classical fairy tales, with no need for technological gimmicks. Furthermore, the more elaborate prior art systems tend to be priced beyond the limited means of many young families. There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a storytelling system in which the story is narrated, at least in part, by talking dolls of less complexity and cost than those of the prior art.